Public Sector MBO and PPB: Cross Fertilization in Management Systems

The article argues that Management by Objectives (MBO) and Planning-Programming-Budgeting (PPB) are not mutually exclusive or contradictory approaches to complex management situations in the public sector, but are in fact complimentary types of management systems. Conceptual models of the key features of both systems are developed, with emphasis on the caveat that system characteristics for both MBO and PPB vary from setting to setting. The key features are then compared and contrasted for purposes of identifying possible ways of improving upon present and future management systems efforts.